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This chapter focuses on VCSOs, which it is claimed are tending to become more like state agencies as a result of taking on the delivery of service under government contracts. It explains that VCSOs resemble private sector enterprises in response to an increasingly competitive environment for resources. It notes that the notion of social enterprise ‘draws on the exceptional effort of individuals and organisations working in the most testing circumstances to meet social needs and empower communities’. It clarifies that ‘social enterprise’ is a term that can be applied to charities and voluntary...

This chapter focuses on VCSOs, which it is claimed are tending to become more like state agencies as a result of taking on the delivery of service under government contracts. It explains that VCSOs resemble private sector enterprises in response to an increasingly competitive environment for resources. It notes that the notion of social enterprise ‘draws on the exceptional effort of individuals and organisations working in the most testing circumstances to meet social needs and empower communities’. It clarifies that ‘social enterprise’ is a term that can be applied to charities and voluntary groups that adopt income-generating strategies, including public sector contracts, although such organisations often do not recognise themselves as being enterprises or entrepreneurial.